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Journal of Advanced Management Science Vol. 2, No. 4, December 2014
©2014 Engineering and Technology Publishingdoi: 10.12720/joams.2.4.306-309
Comparison of Brand Buying Behavior of Slovak
Consumers at the Beginning of Economic Crisis
and at Its End
Lucia Vilčeková Comenius University in Bratislava/Faculty of Management, Bratislava, Slovakia
Email: [email protected]
Abstract—The aim of this paper is to examine the attitudes
toward brands of Slovak consumes and to compare the
differences in their buying behavior at the beginning of the
economic crisis and now, when the crisis may be coming to
its end. Secondary data from representative researches on
buying behavior in Slovakia were used as a basis for
comparison with the results of primary research conducted
in 2013. Changes in consumer behavior are influenced by
the economic situation, as the comparison showed. In 2009,
when the crisis hit Slovakia, the main trigger for purchases
was the price of the products, whereas now, it is the brand
and country of origin. It is a good time now to get use of this
situation, when customers are aware of the importance of
buying domestic products to help Slovak economy to
overcome the crisis.
Index Terms—buying behavior, economic crisis, attitudes
toward brands, domestic vs. foreign brands
I. INTRODUCTION
Consumer behavior is the study of the processes that
individuals or groups go through when they are making
their purchasing choices in order to satisfy their needs.
This behavior is affected by broad set of factors such as:
income, demographics, social and cultural factors. Beside
these basic internal factors, which influence the buying
behavior, there are also factors that are stimulated by the
external environment surrounding the consumer.
Therefore, the consumer behavior is a combination of
customer's buying awareness combined with external
motivators. This is the reason, why the consumer reacts to
any change in the economic situation around him by
changing his consumption [1]. Economic crisis, as
commonly known, began as local mortgage crisis in the
U.S. and over time transformed into global crisis. At first,
Europe did not pay enough attention to worsening
situation on financial markets. But economic environment
was getting worse and Europe got also hit. Germany,
Europe's largest economy officially plunged into
recession in November 2008 and dragged down Europe's
other economies [2]. Slovakia experienced economic
growth in 2008 and first estimations did not expect
Manuscript received December 16, 2013; revised March 17, 2014.
considerable influence of the crisis on Slovakia. One of
the factors that brought comparable stability to Slovakia’s
financial sector at the beginning of the financial crisis in
Europe was the finalization of Eurozone entry. In
comparison with the weakening Czech, Hungarian, and
Polish currencies, the Slovak Crown was stabilized in the
second half of 2008 [3]. The magnitude and extent of the
global recession hit Slovak economic activity in the first
quarter of 2009.
The buying patterns of people tend to change during
hard and stressful times such as economic crisis [4].
Consumer behavior is the study of the processes that
individuals or groups go through when they are making
their purchasing choices in order to satisfy their needs.
This behavior is affected by broad set of factors such as:
income, demographics, social and cultural factors. Beside
these basic internal factors, which influence the buying
behavior, there are also factors that are stimulated by the
external environment surrounding the consumer.
Therefore, the consumer behavior is a combination of
customer's buying awareness combined with external
motivators. This is the reason, why the consumer reacts to
any change in the economic situation around him by
changing his consumption [1].
Research from Euro RSCG Worldwide in 2010
showed a shift in consumer values and behaviors, as
people begin to rethink what is important and how they
want to live. The crisis has caused slowdown of
consumer consumption and the priorities of consumers
changed, as well as the perception and representation they
have on brands and their benefits [5]. Each feature of the
socio-economic situation has substantially changed not
only the way the new consumer purchases, but also
especially what they are buying and why they are buying.
In developed countries, new consumers are more
economical, more responsible and more demanding than
before. Currently, new consumers are increasingly aware
of all aspects involved in purchase of products, from
design, safety, origin, to their social and economic impact
[6].
Flatters and Willmott [7] have identified 8 trends how
consumers behave in the post-recession period. The first
four trends are accelerated by the recession and the
following four are slowing down:
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Journal of Advanced Management Science Vol. 2, No. 4, December 2014
©2014 Engineering and Technology Publishing
Consumer demand for simplicity–consumers are
buying uncomplicated, user-friendly product
which simplify their lives
Call for ethical business governance–consumers
are punishing companies for unethical governance
Desire to economize–people are living a less
wasteful life
Tendency to flit from one offering to another–easy
access to information and friction-free purchasing
is making consumers less loyal
Green consumption–pricey green product became
unaffordable for consumers
Decline in respect for authority–people look to
authorities to fix the economic situation and when
the situation is not getting better, consumers’
respect toward these institutions declines
Ethical consumption–altruistic consumption and
spending are falling as people focus on their own
situation
Extreme experience seeking–expensive and
frivolous experiences were very popular during
the economic boom but have fallen out of favor
during the recession
Changes in consumer behavior are influenced by the
economic situation, but vice versa; also have an impact
on country’s economy. In times of crises, consumer
ethnocentrism can serve as a defense mechanism that can
result in reducing deficits, therefore protecting national
economies. Additionally it favors local industries,
creating opportunities for growth without competitiveness
[8]. From that perspective, consumer ethnocentricity is a
way of coping with the negative impacts of global
economic crisis on local governments.
The aim of this paper is to examine the attitudes
toward brands of Slovak consumes and to compare the
differences in their buying behavior at the beginning of
the economic crisis and now, when the crisis may be
coming to its end.
II. MATERIAL AND METHODS
Data for this paper were drawn from primary and
secondary resources. Secondary resources for this paper
included information from two representative surveys
from agencies Gfk, and Publicis Knut on consumer
buying behavior and their attitudes toward brands. The
third source was an interview about Slovak consumers
and their buying habits with analysts from Gfk and Terno,
both market research agencies. All secondary data
originated in 2009.
Primary data were obtained from marketing
representative research. The data collection lasted from
January to April 2013. Anonymous questionnaire on
consumer buying behavior was presented to Slovak
respondents who were older than 16 years of age. They
were chosen on basis of demographic quotas – age,
gender, education and income to match the proportional
distribution of Slovak population. The sample size was
determined 1067 to get permissible error of 3 percent and
confidence level of 95 percent for the research results.
The respondents were presented 26 statements
concerning their brand buying behavior with emphasis on
domestic versus foreign brands.
Both findings from primary and secondary research
were evaluated in form of tag clouds in order to get better
visualization of the results and to be able to compare
findings from time at the beginning of the economic crisis
and in 2013, when the global crisis may be coming to its
end.
III. RESEARCH RESULTS
First, buying behavior of Slovak consumers and their
attitudes toward brands from 2009 will be described. The
main findings are presented in Fig. 1.
Figure 1. Brand buying behavior of Slovak consumers in 2009.
81 percent of the Slovak populations who are older
than 15 years were convinced that domestic products are
better than foreign. But their buying behavior contradicts
this conviction. A key factor in decision process of
Slovak consumers was the price and discounts. 35 percent
of consumers were buying discounted products. Brand
was also an important factor influencing consumers’
purchase decisions and was closely connected to
experience. Consumers bought those products that were
familiar to them and they had good experience with them.
In groceries, Slovaks prefer domestic over foreign. As
an example, the sheep cheese, smoked cheese, sour milk
products are popular local products. Outside of big cities,
people make their purchases in local bakeries and local
butchers’ stores.
Slovak consumers showed no national sentiment in
their purchases. More than one-fifth of the Slovaks were
regularly shopping abroad, especially in the neighboring
countries Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic and Poland.
Nearly 70 percent of these consumers said the main
reason for their purchases abroad are lower prices and
better quality of products [9].
Most people in Slovakia consider that brands deliver a
certain status for them, which is depicted in purchasing
the right branded product. The number of consumers who
are “into” branded fashion is growing amongst both men
and women. However, when it comes to fashion, Slovaks
are most particular about the brand of their shoes [10].
Typical for Slovak consumers was their price
sensitivity and their decisions were made more on price
and reliability of the products than their image or package.
Majority of Slovak women were loyal to their favorite
brands. More than 30 percent of consumers want to
present their status with branded products. For consumers
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Journal of Advanced Management Science Vol. 2, No. 4, December 2014
©2014 Engineering and Technology Publishing
younger than 24 was very important to purchase famous
brands [11].
We can say, that the main reason for preferring certain
products over others was the price and that the beginning
of the economic crisis had an influence on buying
behavior. For a comparison of buying behavior of Slovak
consumers in 2013, see Fig. 2.
Figure 2. Brand buying behavior of Slovak consumers in 2013.
Concerning attitudes toward domestic brands, Slovak
consumers agree that Slovak products are high quality
products, but it is sometimes impossible to find Slovak
brands of certain products in the stores. Nevertheless,
they tend to prefer Slovak products in their purchases
because they like Slovakia and they want to support the
country’s economy. Slovaks trust domestic brands more
than those of foreign origin and they usually buy food
that is made in Slovakia.
Considering foreign brands, Slovaks think they are
more available and they usually buy consumer goods,
footwear and textiles of foreign origin. Consumers do not
think that foreign brands do have better quality than
Slovak brands.
General attitudes of Slovaks toward brands can be
described as follows: Consumers do have their favorite
brands and they do not care if they were produced abroad
or in Slovakia but they are very aware of the country of
origin. They are brand oriented and they make their
purchase decision based on brands. They are not willing
to pay more for Slovak products, but they not hesitate to
spend more money on their favorite brands. The
consumers are interested in the country of origin and they
are willing to take the time to search for the information
of where the product they want to purchase was made.
Brands play an important role for Slovaks, but the
consumers are sometimes confused with the great variety
of brands.
Slovak consumers are considered to be brand oriented.
Marketing experts say the economic crisis has had some
effect on perception of Slovak consumers toward brands
– the belief of certain brands names and their promise of
quality grew stronger and the consumers became more
price sensitive and when they give away their money they
expect to get the desired performance.
The crisis made stronger the relation of Slovaks to
traditional, established brands. Slovaks look for a certain
guarantee of quality and certainty. And traditional brands
provide exactly such a guarantee for them [12].
Slovak consumers do not behave as patriots when they
are shopping and retailers have already begun to see that
Slovak consumers are becoming more price sensitive
because of the worsening economic situation and that
they are more often ignoring a product's country of origin
when shopping. This is caused both by lower purchasing
power of Slovaks and by a lack of consumer patriotism
that was never built in Slovakia. Based on surveys
conducted by GFK in 2011, Slovak consumers have a
strong interest in purchasing domestic products but it is
questionable whether they actually reach for those
products when shopping [13].
IV. CONCLUSION
At the beginning of the crisis, consumers could be
distinguished by regions where they lived. Especially in
the cities, there was a growing group of consumers who
preferred quality and famous brand names. In small
towns and villages, the main criterion for purchases of
concrete products was the price. The country of origin
was not important for these consumers; the key factor
was the price. Majority of consumers agreed that
domestic products are better, but almost one fifth of them
made their purchases abroad because of lower prices.
Typical for the period when the global crisis hit Slovakia
was that the main trigger in their buying behavior was
low price.
In year 2013, we can see a shift in the buying behavior.
Slovak consumers are brand oriented, they care about
products they buy regardless of the price. When they
have their favorite brands, country of origin is not
important for them and they are willing to pay more
money for it. The main reason for buying Slovak
products is to support the economy and we can say that
Slovak consumers are very aware of the benefits of
supporting domestic production. Nevertheless, consumer
ethnocentrism is not typical for Slovaks. In the past 20
years, many companies underwent a privatization by
multinational companies that “domesticated”
international products in Slovakia. Consumer
ethnocentrism also depends on the share of domestic
production compared to foreign products. There are
certain industries in Slovakia where this share is in favor
of domestic production–food industry. But there are
many products where consumers are forced to buy
foreign brands, because there is nearly no Slovak
production, e.g. electronic devices, consumer goods,
clothing…
To raise the awareness of consumers about the benefits
of purchasing domestic products the participation of
government and manufacturers is needed. There are
several institutions in Slovakia that support domestic
production. Industrial Property Office of the Slovak
Republic, a central state administration body responsible
for industrial property protection; Slovak Association for
Trademark Products that protects and promotes the
common interests of manufacturers of branded products;
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with a
program to label domestic agricultural and food products
called “Quality Label SK”; Association of Trade and
Tourism (ZOCR) introduced an initiative “Quality from
Our Regions” to increase Slovak consumers’ awareness
of domestic products. Promoting a positive attitude
towards domestic product is beneficial and there is a need
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Journal of Advanced Management Science Vol. 2, No. 4, December 2014
©2014 Engineering and Technology Publishing
to invest in consumers’ education to support Slovak
economy in times of global economic crisis.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This article has been elaborated as one of the outcomes
of research project VEGA 1/1051/11 “Analysis of the
strategic process of brand building and brand
management in the context of homogenization and
individualization of consumer needs”.
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Lucia Vilčeková was born in Slovakia in 1980.
She received an M.S. from the Comenius University in Bratislava in 2003 and Ph.D. in
management from the Faculty of Management, CU in 2009. She has been working in Department
of Marketing in Faculty of Management, CU since
2009. Her main research interests are marketing,
market research and data mining and she was a
member of various research teams examining brands, social responsibility and advertising. She has published her
research papers in various international journals including International
Journal of Education and Research, Marketing Science and Inspirations, and European Journal of Business and Economics.